Excellent buildings elegantly explained

Sheehan Quirke

THE QUALITY OF BOOKS about architecture covers the full range from excellent to execrable. Recency of publication is not a reliable guide to greatness. Only two weeks ago, I picked up in a second-hand bookshop a luxurious sixpart series called Cathedrals, Abbeys, and Churches of England and Wales, by T.G. Bonney, published in 1892, for just £20. Professor Bonney’s work feels like the last word on the subject. So one must have a very good reason to write another book about architecture, and we all need an even better reason to read it. Le Corbusier once said “the Styles are a lie”. Hugh Pearman, in his new book About Architecture, shares that sentiment, inasmuch as he believes we ought to evaluate buildings for what they do rather than the…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2023

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